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Biden-Harris Admin would decriminalize marijuana and expunge marijuana use convictions

Cartels are a lot more diversified than you think.

Indeed they are. Some of the most damaging cartels we have today are labor cartels, which are perfectly legal in the US, because the national labor relations act excludes labor unions from antitrust law.
 
How many people under 21 smoke pot? I would venture a guess of millions. That children argument is long dead. Go to any high school if you want to find some.

I was smoking when I was 13, and I had an awesome childhood.

Since weed has no lethal dose, (unlike water, and potatoes) it doesn't need to be regulated by the government at all.
 
Well at some point this needed to be done. It should be left up to the State's to decide these sorts of rules, and we need to quite throwing non-violent offenders in prison for so long. We'll see if it happens, though.
 
I was smoking when I was 13, and I had an awesome childhood.

Since weed has no lethal dose, (unlike water, and potatoes) it doesn't need to be regulated by the government at all.

Please convince the other conservatives.
 
First, every single decriminalization or legalization move has been aimed at adults. As far as I know, also tied to the drinking age, which the federal government pressured the states to make 21.

Second, even if someone were to suggest that 'children' (ie, a 17 year old) should be able to purchase it, one could point out that we allow them to buy much more dangerous things that could actually kill them like bleach, tylenol, and RAID. So on balance, it really wouldn't be that shocking. There's just this stigma of if illegal drug then really bad but if legal drug, then fine.

But we don't need to get to #2. Nobody advocating for decriminalization or legalization is taking on the unnecessary burden of trying to convince people not to have age limits.

I am not defending the current complete prohibition of marijuana, but favor treating it more like the recreational drug alcohol rather than more like peanuts or bleach. In other words, limited legalization (treating marijuana more like alcohol) makes more sense than decriminalization (simply having no government regulation at all).

BTW, there is a huge difference between some legalization (like keeping age restrictions) and decriminalization (having no restrictions at all).
 
I am not defending the current complete prohibition of marijuana, but favor treating it more like the recreational drug alcohol rather than more like peanuts or bleach. In other words, limited legalization (treating marijuana more like alcohol) makes more sense than decriminalization (simply having no government regulation at all).

BTW, there is a huge difference between some legalization (like keeping age restrictions) and decriminalization (having no restrictions at all).

And what I'm saying is everywhere we have decriminalized or legalized it, it IS treated like alcohol. Legalized, you have to be 21 to buy it. Decriminalized, if you're over 21 and it's within certain weight ranges, you won't get so much as fined.

However, if you're a minor, you typically will get fined. States that decriminalized that I'm aware of make it a civil rather than criminal penalty for minors to possess, but it's not like minors can walk around freely with it. It's not treated like peanuts.
 
And what I'm saying is everywhere we have decriminalized or legalized it, it IS treated like alcohol. Legalized, you have to be 21 to buy it. Decriminalized, if you're over 21 and it's within certain weight ranges, you won't get so much as fined.

However, if you're a minor, you typically will get fined. States that decriminalized that I'm aware of make it a civil rather than criminal penalty for minors to possess, but it's not like minors can walk around freely with it. It's not treated like peanuts.

I'm not concerned with (civilly?) fining minors as much as stopping the uncontrolled sale of "street drugs". Something can only be "treated like" alcohol (a recreational drug) by having laws to do so. Alcohol sales (as well as use) are legalized and controlled (by law) not simply left to individual discretion by decriminalizing alcohol.
 
How many people under 21 smoke pot? I would venture a guess of millions. That children argument is long dead. Go to any high school if you want to find some.

Yep, that's why it is called high school. ;)
 
Please convince the other conservatives.

The core problem is democracy. They shouldn't have a say in which drugs I put into my own body, just like progressives shouldn't have a say regarding which guns I may own, or how much per hour I may work for. In a democracy, petty tyrants come out of the woodwork, using the rotten government to control, standardize, and regulate other people.
 
Yep, that's why it is called high school. ;)

who knew moving from "junior high" to the term "middle school" was actually an effort to mitigate drug use
 
I am not defending the current complete prohibition of marijuana, but favor treating it more like the recreational drug alcohol rather than more like peanuts or bleach. In other words, limited legalization (treating marijuana more like alcohol) makes more sense than decriminalization (simply having no government regulation at all).

BTW, there is a huge difference between some legalization (like keeping age restrictions) and decriminalization (having no restrictions at all).
Decriminalization has nothing to do with age restrictions.

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Decriminalization has nothing to do with age restrictions.

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Hmm... is it not a crime to sell (or serve) alcohol to minors? Laws (coupled with enforcement) have everything to do with age restrictions.
 
Hmm... is it not a crime to sell (or serve) alcohol to minors? Laws (coupled with enforcement) have everything to do with age restrictions.
Are you confused about laws regarding alcohol? It in fact is legal in several states to serve your own kid alcohol. In some states, you can serve someone else's kid alcohol.

None of that has anything to do with decriminalization of the use or possession of pot. Decriminalization vice legalization is the form of punishment that comes from use or possession by adults.

Legalization, Decriminalization & Medicinal Use of Cannabis: A Scientific and Public Health Perspective



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Are you confused about laws regarding alcohol? It in fact is legal in several states to serve your own kid alcohol. In some states, you can serve someone else's kid alcohol.

None of that has anything to do with decriminalization of the use or possession of pot. Decriminalization vice legalization is the form of punishment that comes from use or possession by adults.

Legalization, Decriminalization & Medicinal Use of Cannabis: A Scientific and Public Health Perspective



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Not in the least, but alcohol has not been decriminalized - it has been reasonably regulated (controlled by law).
 
Not in the least, but alcohol has not been decriminalized - it has been reasonably regulated (controlled by law).
Alcohol is legalized. It didn't get decriminalized because it was legalized and is now regulated.

Decriminalization is like getting training wheels. You dont necessarily need them but they are meant to help bridge a gap. Not everyone puts training wheels on a bike yo learn to ride.

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It's amazing how easily one stupid post can derail an entire thread.
 
This doesn't speak to my personal priorities, but it's important to a good many Americans, and I'm glad to see Harris making it clear that she respects a majority of Americans' wishes on a substance we all know perfectly well not to be harmful on any significant level.

For the record, decriminalization and record expunging (on a Federal level, of course), is what the Executive can do on its own. Based on their position, it's fair to assume they would sign any legislation legalizing marijuana altogether.



https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1305606924948439040

Yes, by all means, let's have a society that is always high on dope.
 
Alcohol is legalized. It didn't get decriminalized because it was legalized and is now regulated.

Decriminalization is like getting training wheels. You dont necessarily need them but they are meant to help bridge a gap. Not everyone puts training wheels on a bike yo learn to ride.

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Exactly, as should be done with other recreational drugs. Decriminalization (via EO) is simply stating that the executive will no longer (or, more likely, very selectively) enforce (portions of) a given law.
 
Exactly, as should be done with other recreational drugs. Decriminalization (via EO) is simply stating that the executive will no longer (or, more likely, very selectively) enforce (portions of) a given law.
It allows state laws to be the determining laws when it comes to pot, as it should.

It has nothing to do with allowing children access to pot.

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Yes, by all means, let's have a society that is always high on dope.

since the repeal of prohibition we have had a society that has wide, yet regulated, access to alcohol

that seems to have worked for most of society much better than prohibition

those gang members who traffic in illicit party favors may disagree ... because they lose their customers and a source of substantial untaxed income
 
This doesn't speak to my personal priorities, but it's important to a good many Americans, and I'm glad to see Harris making it clear that she respects a majority of Americans' wishes on a substance we all know perfectly well not to be harmful on any significant level.

For the record, decriminalization and record expunging (on a Federal level, of course), is what the Executive can do on its own. Based on their position, it's fair to assume they would sign any legislation legalizing marijuana altogether.



https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1305606924948439040

that's great and I am for this issue. unfortunately, i consider this a lot lower on the importance scale than the attacks on the 1st and 2nd amendment he has essentially promised.
 
since the repeal of prohibition we have had a society that has wide, yet regulated, access to alcohol

that seems to have worked for most of society much better than prohibition

those gang members who traffic in illicit party favors may disagree ... because they lose their customers and a source of substantial untaxed income

There really isn't much gang or criminal involvement in MJ now. It's like Hillary or Biden or Harris saying they are going to be for women's rights and pass laws making women equal. I really don't know how you even do that since there are already laws on the books with these issues. MJ really isn't the problem, it is the other drugs and going out of your way to make MJ legal will just bring us closer to the point of decriminalizing opioids as well. Where does it stop?
 
that's great and I am for this issue. unfortunately, i consider this a lot lower on the importance scale than the attacks on the 1st and 2nd amendment he has essentially promised.
The prohibition of drugs has been a blatant attack on the Peoples' 1st Amendment rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for almost 100 years now. States legalizing MJ while the Federal government sits on its hands with the CSA and other Unconstitutional laws still in-place has created a Constitutional crisis between State's rights and Federal supremacy that needs to be resolved by the SCOTUS.
 
Yep, thanks to a law - not the lack of one. What you seem to be describing is the selective enforcement of (certain) federal marijuana laws - not decriminalization of marijuana.
Some definitions are badly needed here:

Legalization: It's legal to manufacture, sell, possess, and consume, with regulations.
Decriminalization: It's legal to possess and consume, with regulations. It is NOT legal to manufacture or sell, or even to possess in "large" quantities.

So decriminalization simply removes legal sanctions from users, while leaving legal sanctions in-place for manufacturers, traffickers, dealers, etc. It's a half-assed solution to a problem that requires full legalization and regulation (as well as properly characterizing the drug problem as a medical one, not a criminal one).
 
There really isn't much gang or criminal involvement in MJ now. It's like Hillary or Biden or Harris saying they are going to be for women's rights and pass laws making women equal. I really don't know how you even do that since there are already laws on the books with these issues. MJ really isn't the problem, it is the other drugs and going out of your way to make MJ legal will just bring us closer to the point of decriminalizing opioids as well. Where does it stop?
This isnt true. At the very least, cartels are growing marijuana on public lands, American soil, in our parks and forests. These are dangerous to our environment and to those who have to track down such operations.

Wildlife And Water In U.S. Forests Are Being Poisoned By Illegal Pot Operations : NPR

It isnt just the environmental impact. Since these cartels don't really care about people, they allow a fungus or mold to grow that can be dangerous to those trying to clear out these operations.

Which Dangerous Toxins Are in Your Pot? – Mother Jones

These things should decrease with legalization and an increase in demand for safe, legal pot that faces regulation and standards testing.

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